crazy week...

This week has been so hectic - a lot of things going on with Andrew that are hard, but I will post more about that in his one month update.  We pulled these blocks out of the toy box this week, we hadn't had them out in several months.  It was neat to see Caleigh play with them in the way they are meant to be played with - she started building towers all by herself.  

And a picture of the little guy who has been making our (my) life crazy this past week...  For now we are just barely surviving.

cow day 2009

On Friday July 10th (I am so behind in blogging!) we dressed up like cows and headed to Chick-Fil-A for free food.  We had a fun night there and are excited to make it a yearly tradition.

We love it that Daddy participated too and wore his spots! We were the parents with "that child" that was TERRIFIED by the cow.  When we first met the cow we were standing in line to order and I was holding Caleigh and the cow was bent down with his back to us.  All of a sudden he stood up and turned around (it is a tall cow - at least 6 or 7 feet tall) and Caleigh let out this shrill scream of complete terror.  We couldn't help but to laugh hysterically - her irrational (probably rational to her) fear was hilarious to us.  After that she cried in the line and at the table as she worried that the cow would come back.  Thankfully, ice cream solves all wounds and appeases all fears...

We had a great time and can't wait for next year - funny to think that Andrew will be one by then and will be partaking in the free food!

more cow pics

Oops - Gigi, Poppop, and Aunt Karen joined us as well...

kiddos lately

Caleigh has been totally in charge of her personal grooming lately.  Here is a picture of her sitting in the bumbo and trying to use the nail scissors on her toenails (which she actually hates so it is funny that she is trying to do it on her own).  She also loves putting on lotion, washing hands, and lately she has been obsessed with bows.  As soon as she wakes up she will ask for a bow ('doe') and whenever her bow comes out or she doesn't have one in she will pick up her hair and try to put it behind her ears.  Pretty cute stuff.

On another note we have been going through some major behavioral issues lately (likely a combination of the age and adjusting to a new baby)... Major whinning (like all day, follow you around whining), sticking her leg through the crib slats (and getting it stuck) and then crying - and she gets it really stuck - she has a bruise from doing it, and the constant "no" with disobeying.  At least in the midst of it though she is getting so much more verbal which is fun.   When Caleigh was a baby I never believed anyone when they said, "it is so much easier having a baby than an older child," but now I see that it is completely true.  All this little guy needs is to sleep and eat and have a clean diaper.  

Andrew is doing great.  We took him in to the doctor on June 29th (15 days old) and he was 8 lb 4 oz... a growing machine.  He is looking more and more like his daddy every day and generally he is a great baby.  At night he is waking up every 3 hours like a clock but at least at night he goes straight back to sleep.  He has been such a joy to us and we are loving our little family of 4.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons (children) born in ones youth.  Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. Ps 127:4-5a

happy 4th of july!

columbia zoo

On Friday Adam took the day off and we took our first day trip to the Columbia zoo.  We left around 8 am (it is about 1.5 hours away) with Caleigh and Andrew and tons of stuff.  We had a great time.  Caleigh really enjoyed seeing all the animals and did a lot of pointing and talking.

One thing that was funny to us was how scared of the animals she was.  At one point we were standing with her near where you can feed the giraffes and as one of the giraffes leaned its head in Caleigh started saying, "no, no, no, no, no" followed by crying.  She did the same thing when the elephant started walking towards us.  

Caleigh really liked the chickens and the rabbits (probably because they were the only animals we saw that were smaller than she was).

She was also a big fan of the birds.  We had a really good time and even though the temperature was 95, it really didn't feel that hot.  Andrew did great and slept most of the time.  Caleigh napped in the car on the way home for 45 minutes which was not a good thing (would have been good if it was longer).  Once we got home there was crying by her and Andrew from 3 until 9 pm - so we really paid for making the trip.  But overall it was a fun memory making experience.

flashback to 1980

In a tribute to the 80s (and my childhood), Caleigh came home from my parents house on Thursday in one of the outfits I used to wear.  I wish I had a comparison picture (Mom?).  She was pretty cute.

a day with the ducks (and doting grandparents)

My parents came over this morning and picked up Caleigh for a fun outing.  The came armed with a picnic lunch and some bread for the ducks and headed over the Freedom Park.  I have been wanting to take Caleigh to feed the ducks there (as there are tons and they are zealous for their food) but with Andrew arriving 8 days early we never got the chance.  

(I can just see her babbling away while she points in the above photo - and of course nobody has any clue what she is saying.) From what I hear she did a great job of throwing the food to the ducks - although there was one mishap.  Once when she threw a piece of bread it didn't leave her had and the ducks (being the lovers of bread that they are) ran up and snatched it out of her hand.  Apparently she was saying 'up, up' and trying to hightail it out of there (I don't blame her - those big geese are aggressive!). The herd... (actually what is a flock of geese called?  a gaggle?) Thanks for the outing Gigi and PopPop - clearly Caleigh loved it!

caleigh grace at 19 months

Our big girl is 19 months as of last week!  She is doing so many new and fun things - more than I can capture in this update.  Her biggest thing she is doing all the time is mimicking everything we do - whether it be cooking, using our feet to do something, turning on and off the lights, pushing the stroller, changing the diaper on her babies (like mommy does with baby Andrew),   

• ~ My favorite milestone so far: Caleigh said Mama (actually referring to me instead of babbling it)!  She said it on 6/17/09 - the day after we brought Andrew home from the hospital.  That was probably one of the harder days since bringing them home and it was such a treat to finally hear her call me by my 'name'.

Here she is eating some mud pie and really enjoying it.  We have been giving her a tiny bit of dessert from time to time if she eats a good dinner.  Unfortunately this time after forgoing the spoon and using her fingers to eat the mud pie she decided to play peek-a-boo.  Needless to say, she went straight to the bath after this.

Ta-da... I am 19 months old.Some of the things she is doing (that I can remember):

• ~ She is saying tons of new words.  This is probably the biggest milestone.  Some of my favorites quack (kaak - the sound a duck makes), elephant (el-de-pant), Gigi, Poppop, sho-wee (shoeee - when something stinks),  turn it on/off (dur dit don) - often confused/interchanged with put it on, take it off, rock rock rock (ra-ra-ra, often said while swinging Andrew in his swing at breakneck speed), night-night (ni-ni), please (pa-pa-peas, the pa-pa part she says to imitate us because we always try to get her to use her words instead of just signing please).  Her favorite word by far: no (often said in a sing-song, whiny voice - nooooo).  This has made discipline a little more difficult as now we are trying to parent and discipline her attitude as well as her actions.  
• ~ She is really into climbing - she is climbing on top of the coffee table, under the chairs, on top of the chairs, onto the couch, and onto our bed.  
• ~ She is so close to running and jumping (her feet don't leave the ground).
• ~ She loves animals - ducks, dogs, kitty-cats (her favorite).  She loves books about animals, farm animals, pointing out animals everywhere we go, and reading books about animals.  

while andrew is sleeping...

This is how Caleigh likes to entertain herself while Andrew is sleeping - "cooking" and playing with the water.  Also notice the picture from behind - that is not a poopy diaper, though it may look like one.  Caleigh got her diaper wet and then sat on the black ledge of our doorway which was covered with dirt and pollen - makes for a dirty looking diaper.  No need for Caleigh to say "sooooeeee" (meaning sho-wee) and wave her arms as she does when it is a real dirty diaper.

loving and kissing sweet little a

loving andrew

such a little miss priss